Magna Steyr has asked Mesa for permission to add canopy structures over outdoor vehicle storage on its roughly 10.8-acre parcel at 7237 E Pecos Road. The city’s Design Review Board is scheduled to hear the case on August 11, 2026. It was filed as Alternative Compliance Request ZON26-00414. The timing lines up with a planned production ramp-up for Waymo robotaxis assembled at the same facility.
If you work or own property near Pecos and Power, here is why this vote matters
This is not a routine fence variance. The plant at 7237 E Pecos Road is where Waymo and Magna International assemble autonomous robotaxis for paying riders in the Phoenix metro. More production means more vehicles need somewhere to sit before they ship. Canopies over that storage area are the physical infrastructure that makes higher output possible.
For neighbors and property owners in the Pecos-Power corridor, this matters for a simple reason: it signals that this campus is growing, not just operating. The facility sits in a heavy industrial zone, well away from residential streets. But the jobs it anchors, the property-tax base it builds, and the freight it generates all ripple through the East Valley. The Design Review Board plays a recommending role — its finding shapes what happens next.
No public opposition has surfaced in city records. The site’s industrial land-use designation means neighboring residents are largely insulated from any visual or operational change.
What is being proposed at 7237 E Pecos Road
Case ZON26-00414, captioned “Magna Steyr Canopies,” covers the roughly 10.8-acre parcel at 7237 E Pecos Road in east Mesa. The request is classified as an expansion of an Outdoor Storage facility. City planner Joshua Grandlienard is the planner of record.
Five documents are on file with the city: a vicinity map, site plan and elevations, a color and materials board, the Alternative Compliance Request itself, and a presentation deck.
Satellite view of the roughly 10.8-acre parcel at 7237 E Pecos Road where Magna Steyr is seeking canopy approval. (Esri World Imagery)
The August 11, 2026 Design Review Board hearing — what you need to know
The hearing is scheduled for August 11, 2026. The case appears as agenda item 3-f. The board’s role here is recommending. It weighs the design merits and forwards its finding, but it does not issue a final approval on its own.
The parcel falls within Mesa Council District 6. District 6 Councilmember Scott Somers was among the officials who welcomed Magna’s original facility announcement in August 2024.
City of Mesa vicinity map for ZON26-00414, showing the 10.8-acre site near the Union Pacific Railroad line and surrounding EO, LI, GI, and PS zoning areas. (City of Mesa Design Review Board)
What an Alternative Compliance Request means under Mesa zoning
Mesa’s Design Review Board has jurisdiction over commercial and industrial projects that front an arterial or collector street, or that exceed 20,000 square feet of gross floor area. The Pecos Road site meets that threshold.
Under Mesa Zoning Ordinance Section 11-5-4, a project can seek Alternative Compliance for two reasons. First, meeting the written code standard exactly is impractical. Second, a different approach achieves an equal or better design outcome. In plain terms, Magna is telling the board its canopy design works at least as well as the default code standard. The board decides whether that argument holds up.
Why Magna needs more outdoor storage: the Waymo robotaxi connection
In May 2025, Waymo and Magna International announced that their Mesa facility is the epicenter of Waymo’s future growth plans. That quote came from Waymo VP of Operations Ryan McNamara. The plant is described as a 239,000-square-foot operation. It was already building more than 2,000 Jaguar I-PACE autonomous robotaxis. Waymo and Magna then planned to more than double production by the end of 2026.
The same facility is also being adapted to build Geely Zeekr RT robotaxis. Those vehicles carry the 6th-generation Waymo Driver. The plant’s flexible design is meant to run multiple vehicle platforms at the same time, at higher volumes, with an automated assembly line added over time. More vehicles rolling off the line means more vehicles waiting to ship. That is exactly what the expanded outdoor storage area is meant to handle.
The roughly 10.8-acre triangular parcel at 7237 E Pecos Road sits near the Union Pacific Railroad corridor, bounded by LI, EO, GI, and PS zoning designations. (City of Mesa)
Power Industrial Park: who built it and who operates there
Magna’s Pecos Road operations are based in Power Industrial Park. It is a 583,955-square-foot campus of four buildings at the southeast corner of Pecos and Power Roads in Mesa. Newport Commercial Partners, Manncor Realty Advisors, and Principal Financial Group developed it. Clayco served as general contractor and DLR Group as architect. CBRE handles leasing for the park.
Magna leased a nearly 230,000-square-foot building there. Colliers Senior Associate Danny Schuster and Senior Vice President Brian Gleason helped Magna in its real estate search. The facility is in ZIP code 85212, about two minutes from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and near the Loop 202 interchange.
The PAMZ advantage: foreign trade zone, SRP power, and a big property-tax break
The Pecos Road corridor sits inside Mesa’s Pecos Advanced Manufacturing Zone. The PAMZ carries Foreign Trade Zone status. That status can cut property taxes by as much as 72.9% for qualified users. It also includes access to SRP 69kV transmission, water, natural gas, and fiber.
Separately, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved Union Pacific Railroad’s plan to build five rail crossings along six miles of new track on the northern edge of the PAMZ. That project is called PIRATE — the Pecos Industrial Rail Access and Train Extension. The Surface Transportation Board gave federal approval on March 13, 2026. At full use, it could remove up to 29,000 truck trips per year from the corridor.
For property owners elsewhere in the Valley, these tax tools help keep Maricopa County’s commercial base competitive. When an anchor tenant like Magna qualifies for FTZ savings, it also anchors the jobs and infrastructure that give nearby parcels their value.
The August 11 hearing, and what follows it
The Design Review Board meets August 11, 2026 to hear case ZON26-00414 as agenda item 3-f. The board’s role is recommending. Its finding then moves through the city’s standard review process. No outcome is known at this time. No public opposition has appeared in city records.
The five case documents — including the site plan, elevations, color and materials board, and the Alternative Compliance Request — are on file with the City of Mesa and linked from the official agenda page.
